Data from retail grocery categories covered by AC Nielsen, Ireland
| Retail category | Total number of stores (% annual change in number of stores) | Coverage and date of sample for cigarette sales data | |||
| 2006 | 2007† | 2008‡ | 2009 | ||
| Multiples (large supermarket chains eg, Tesco, Superquinn)* | 292 | 294 (0.7%) | 322 (9.5%) | 334 (3.7%) | Census EPOS 100%; n=334 in 2009 |
| Symbols (stores part of a buying group; owner operated or part of a franchise eg, Centra, Londis, Mace) | 1276 | 980 (−23.2%) | 1669 (70.3%) | 1624 (−2.7%) | Sample EPOS; n=979 in 2009 |
| Forecourts (service stations) | 148 | 484 (227%) | 882 (82.2%) | 925 (4.9%) | Sample EPOS; n=485 in 2009 |
| TSNs (independent stores and garages that have at least 50% of their profits from tobacco, sweets and newspapers) | 2240 | 2025 (−9.6%) | 1381 (−31.8%) | 1317 (−4.6%) | Audit data; n=89 in 2009 |
| Independents (other independent stores and smaller chains not included in symbols) | 2739 | 2303 (−15.9%) | 1491 (−35.3%) | 1445 (−3.1%) | Audit data; n=69 in 2009 |
| Total | 6695 | 6086 | 5745 | 5645 | |
↵* This category excludes Dunnes Stores, which numbered 79 in 2006, and 100 in 2008 and 2009 (data unavailable for 2007).
↵† This figure is affected by the reclassification of some ‘symbols’ stores sited on forecourts into the ‘forecourts’ category in 2007.
↵‡ This figure is affected by the reclassification of some stores from the ‘independents’ and ‘TSN’ categories to the ‘symbols’ and ‘forecourts’ categories in 2008.
EPOS, electronic point of sale.